Honestly, it was pretty good. Mistakes and all. Does anyone know who the extra guitar player was on Another Love, the guy next to Prince's keyboards?

blackbob said:

i am as big a fan as you can probably get..i am usually positive about almost everything he does...but i didnt feel last night's performance...just being honest...when he is at his best...no one comes near him...but last night wasn't his best...too many songs...sound problems...guitar not plugged in...nah..it wasn't his best...

Who said it was his best?

lrn36 said:

Alan Leeds needs to realize that even if Prince is not up to his standards, he is still a million miles ahead of the newer, younger acts of today. I mean, did you see Iggy Azaela's awkward, amateurish performance last week? Alan wants Prince to turn into Eric Clapton or Tom Petty to be taken more seriously. It's like the guy doesn't know him at all. No one else on the scene is capable of doing what Prince is doing right now so why move into the elder statesman of rock and roll mold?

And who the hell is Alan Leeds anyway? His bit part in Prince's career doesnt make him the authority. Bottom line is that no one can claim what Prince has done and is still doing. He is on the charts and still relevant as the elder statesman legand with a stellar career that spans 5 different decades.

bashraka said:

Alan Leeds:

Prince on SNL - I fully realize I'm opening up a can of worms here, will probably regret saying this tomorrow, but I'm so disappointed by someone who has so much more to offer than mixed agendas that get in the way of his usually brilliant music.
I love his lifelong devotion to promoting women in rock but the appearance on SNL proved only that a girl band can play clichés, the talented Lianne La Havas can be under-utilized and Prince is no Alice Smith. In trivializing Smith's song has Prince embraced Alice's right to cover one of HIS songs? File this appearance under trying to do too much and ending up not doing much at all. Many, many years ago Prince asked me why he wasn't taken more seriously as a musician and I suggested he leave the bells and whistles home and tour in jeans and turtleneck, placing all the focus on the music. He sarcastically replied, "what? And look like you?". Back then he was probably right and I was naïve. BUT two decades later and two decades older, I would suggest the same thing. Leave the costumes and cartoon logos to the kids and give the music the mature respect it deserves. A shame..........a master lowering the bar is never fun to watch."

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/housequakecom

Wow, this is an interesting review. Not sure that I agree with it all but I can understand in some ways where he's coming from. But, I don't really see the bells and whistles he's talking about. I just assume that Prince's eccentric ways are a package deal and not something he just "adds on" just for the sake of being different. I enjoyed the performance as a whole.

It seems to me he did what neophytes always say he should do: played all new material surrounding by kids half his age - even that lame Johsua onstage.

Though I wil lnever agree with that, Prince showed it only comes down to Prince when it is all said and done.

Just watched SNL on hulu...not at all impressed by Prince. Hands down his worst televised performance.

.

And SNL is GARBAGE now. I laughed maybe twice thru the entire episode...and I was stunned by how many black folks are on the show now. Havent watched regularly in a few years, but I guess Keenan Thompson has some power; he refused to dress up like a black woman and suddenly Lorne Michaels hired more black folks than have ever graced the stage on SNL.

3rdEyeGirl is good but I do see local bands with drummers who just fucking cook.

camile100 said:

I have to say I was disappointed by the performance. Love both albums and the songs played (except Marz) but somehow it just didn't do it for me. Really wish he would ditch the Afro - looked horrible. I think it did appear to go well and singing was good but compared to so many other awesome performances I feel a bit disappointed.

Yeah the fro is raggedy, too many years of relaxers makes his natural hair look tore up, any sista will tell you once you straighten it theres no turning back. He should have gone Farrah Fawcett, fuck he made his bed now he should lye in it lol.

was he ..yet agai.. having guitar tech problems?

Over at Rolling Stone people are saying Prince ripped of Pantera. The question is do you hear it?

SeventeenDayze said:

bashraka said:

Alan Leeds:

Prince on SNL - I fully realize I'm opening up a can of worms here, will probably regret saying this tomorrow, but I'm so disappointed by someone who has so much more to offer than mixed agendas that get in the way of his usually brilliant music.
I love his lifelong devotion to promoting women in rock but the appearance on SNL proved only that a girl band can play clichés, the talented Lianne La Havas can be under-utilized and Prince is no Alice Smith. In trivializing Smith's song has Prince embraced Alice's right to cover one of HIS songs? File this appearance under trying to do too much and ending up not doing much at all. Many, many years ago Prince asked me why he wasn't taken more seriously as a musician and I suggested he leave the bells and whistles home and tour in jeans and turtleneck, placing all the focus on the music. He sarcastically replied, "what? And look like you?". Back then he was probably right and I was naïve. BUT two decades later and two decades older, I would suggest the same thing. Leave the costumes and cartoon logos to the kids and give the music the mature respect it deserves. A shame..........a master lowering the bar is never fun to watch."

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/housequakecom

Wow, this is an interesting review. Not sure that I agree with it all but I can understand in some ways where he's coming from. But, I don't really see the bells and whistles he's talking about. I just assume that Prince's eccentric ways are a package deal and not something he just "adds on" just for the sake of being different. I enjoyed the performance as a whole.

Whoa now Allan, he's no longer rocking the heels one thing at a time. I think he's taking shots, All rock stars are eccentric and strive for eternal youth, why is he so eloquent about this particular rock star? hmmmm what can it be. Alice Smith is smart, hot, talented as fuck and had the appropriate response to a legend putting his spin on her tune- Leed's is just stirring the pot in his own head. Did he not accept checks from James Brown when he was clearly a shell of himself and trying to keep pace with disco?, the only difference here is Prince aint paying him anymore and had he talked that shit about JB there would have been a problem cus James will cut a fool. 99.9% of past their prime rock stars would kill to do something as interesting as AOA, but they cant, so they stay in their lane and play the i'm just about the music game. What Allan needs to do is get D'Angelo in some semblance of condition, we miss him and his TEAM is responsible for getting him back.

Great. A solid, energetic performance.

I don't understand or relate to the negative reviews here in any way. Seems to me that Prince did what the majority of us have been asking for.

dreamshaman32 said:

camile100 said:

I have to say I was disappointed by the performance. Love both albums and the songs played (except Marz) but somehow it just didn't do it for me. Really wish he would ditch the Afro - looked horrible. I think it did appear to go well and singing was good but compared to so many other awesome performances I feel a bit disappointed.

Yeah the fro is raggedy, too many years of relaxers makes his natural hair look tore up, any sista will tell you once you straighten it theres no turning back. He should have gone Farrah Fawcett, fuck he made his bed now he should lye in it lol.

Shine a light from in front of someone pointing upwards to their face and you will see through any fro.

bashraka said:

Alan Leeds:

Prince on SNL - I fully realize I'm opening up a can of worms here, will probably regret saying this tomorrow, but I'm so disappointed by someone who has so much more to offer than mixed agendas that get in the way of his usually brilliant music.
I love his lifelong devotion to promoting women in rock but the appearance on SNL proved only that a girl band can play clichés, the talented Lianne La Havas can be under-utilized and Prince is no Alice Smith. In trivializing Smith's song has Prince embraced Alice's right to cover one of HIS songs? File this appearance under trying to do too much and ending up not doing much at all. Many, many years ago Prince asked me why he wasn't taken more seriously as a musician and I suggested he leave the bells and whistles home and tour in jeans and turtleneck, placing all the focus on the music. He sarcastically replied, "what? And look like you?". Back then he was probably right and I was naïve. BUT two decades later and two decades older, I would suggest the same thing. Leave the costumes and cartoon logos to the kids and give the music the mature respect it deserves. A shame..........a master lowering the bar is never fun to watch."

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/housequakecom

Wow!

OperatingThetan said:

Great. A solid, energetic performance.

I don't understand or relate to the negative reviews here in any way. Seems to me that Prince did what the majority of us have been asking for.

I made that point on another thread. Prople wanted new songs with youngsters and that is what he did - but the reviews tell you is was ultimately about Prince...as it has always been.

From the thread leading up to the performace I said...

Ok it's almost time. Prince has a tendency for things to not go exactly right during his high profile live performances...from his infamous Grammys shawl getting stuck on the mic at the beginning of his performance to the rain at the SuperBowl

So what's going to go wrong tonight?

Well..guess we found out! Once again what could've been a major misstep turns the kid on fire!

I knew it's happen just wondered how he'd recover! Awesome performance!

2020 said:

From the thread leading up to the performace I said...

Ok it's almost time. Prince has a tendency for things to not go exactly right during his high profile live performances...from his infamous Grammys shawl getting stuck on the mic at the beginning of his performance to the rain at the SuperBowl

So what's going to go wrong tonight?

Well..guess we found out! Once again what could've been a major misstep turns the kid on fire!

I knew it's happen just wondered how he'd recover! Awesome performance!

How is rain at the Superbowl a Prince tendency? He can make it rain, too? DAmn- I love Prince!

2freaky4church1 said:

Loving his large Fro, he was definitely channeling Sly Stone on those keyboards...

I'm now wondering if he should have finished with Something in the Water or that new version of Empty Room rather than Another Love.

[Edited 11/2/14 12:58pm]

lezama said:

iZsaZsa said:

Noodled24 said: I don't think Prince could do this if not on purpose. Guitar players are stupid?

Prince doesn't set up his own gear. Im not sure who his current tech is.. maybe it was Trevor's job to have everything set up.. not sure. Whoever's responsibility it was, I'm sure they felt incredibly embarrassed when they saw that.

[Edited 11/2/14 10:13am]

Exactly, Prince does not set up his own gear for live performances, and Prince coming out to play air guitar for 20 seconds was not part of the plan, not sure why folks are trying to come up with every excuse other than what common sense and reality dictate. Prince, and his crew, are human, just like the rest of us, aside from that, unexpected things happens all the time live. The challenge is how you cover it up or deal with it to mitigate the effect of those unexpected things, which Prince did great with, there was really nothing else he could do other than continuing to play air guitar for the entire song, putting his guitar down and letting Donna handle things, or just say wtf, plug the cord in and move on. The non Prince forums are already all over this speculating the his guitar playing was not even live, of course we know better, but displaying real music by real musicians does not include air guitar. If his and Donna's parts didn't start off exactly the same on Plectrum, it could have been much worse. At least listening to the audio alone one cannot tell.

Someone did not set the stuff up properly, I am sure he/she got a lashing.

Do you folks also feel that during the performance of Baby I'm A Star, during the 1985 grammy awards, when Prince knocked over the mic stand with his scarf, and they subsequently wacked himself in the head with it while picking it back up, that he was trying to showcase to the world how a lace scarf could win a fight with a mic stand and how his head could second as a bass drum? Mistakes happen, by road crews and even Prince.

[Edited 11/2/14 13:09pm]

OperatingThetan said:

OperatingThetan said:

CynicKill said:

Over at Rolling Stone people are saying Prince ripped of Pantera. The question is do you hear it?

It's just a generic hard rock riff. Pantera ripped it off from someone who ripped it off from Pentegram.

(or Hawkwind, or Blue Cheer, or some band we've never heard of)

leadline said:

lezama said:

Prince doesn't set up his own gear. Im not sure who his current tech is.. maybe it was Trevor's job to have everything set up.. not sure. Whoever's responsibility it was, I'm sure they felt incredibly embarrassed when they saw that.

[Edited 11/2/14 10:13am]

Exactly, Prince coming out to play air guitar for 20 seconds was not part of the plan, not sure why folks are trying to come up with every excuse other than what common sense and reality dictate. Prince, and his crew, are human, just like the rest of us, aside from that, unexpected things happens all the time live. The challenge is how you cover it up or deal with it to mitigate the effect of those unexpected things, which Prince did great with, there was really nothing else he could do other than continuing to play air guitar for the entire song, putting his guitar down and letting Donna handle things, or just say wtf, plug the cord in and move on. The non Prince forums are already all over this speculating the his guitar playing was not even live, of course we know better, but displaying real music by real musicians does not include air guitar. If his and Donna's parts didn't start off exactly the same on Plectrum, it could have been much worse. At least listening to the audio alone one cannot tell.

Someone did not set the stuff up properly, I am sure he/she got a lashing.

Do you folks also feel that during the performance of Baby I'm A Star, during the 1985 grammy awards, when Prince knocked over the mic stand with his scarf, and they subsequently wacked himself in the head with it while picking it back up, that he was trying to showcase to the world how a lace scarf could win a fight with a mic stand and how his head could second as a bass drum?

[Edited 11/2/14 13:00pm]

I know I'm just a mean, old, bitter, un-musically talented hater and all that but isn't that what sound checks before LIVE performances are supposed to prevent?

Alan needs to have several seats.The key phrase in Alan's screed is "many years ago" because that's the last time his observations carried some weight IMO. What he says has been too over-valued in the fan community for too long. He sounds like a bitter, dried up, old curmudgeon.

The one or two good points he makes are lost in the snide remarks and back-handed compliments that he spews every time he's asked about Prince. It's 2014 and he has lots of genuine problems to worry about with D'angelo than to waste his time manufacturing issues regarding Prince. The comments about underutilizing Lianne and trivializing Alice Smith are uncalled for too.

Again, he may have had a point in saying that there was a lot going on in the performance for example, but we need to stop acting like the opinion of a guy who hasn't been in contact with P in over 20 years is somehow carved in stone. In reality he has about as much knowledge of Prince today as his former hair stylist.

babynoz said:

Alan needs to have several seats.The key phrase in Alan's screed is "many years ago" because that's the last time his observations carried some weight IMO. What he says has been too over-valued in the fan community for too long. He sounds like a bitter, dried up, old curmudgeon.

The one or two good points he makes are lost in the snide remarks and back-handed compliments that he spews every time he's asked about Prince. It's 2014 and he has lots of genuine problems to worry about with D'angelo than to waste his time manufacturing issues regarding Prince. The comments about underutilizing Lianne and trivializing Alice Smith are uncalled for too.

Again, he may have had a point in saying that there was a lot going on in the performance for example, but we need to stop acting like the opinion of a guy who hasn't been in contact with P in over 20 years is somehow carved in stone. In reality he has about as much knowledge of Prince today as his former hair stylist.

Had his former hair stylist (someone versed in haircare - point 1 and Prince's hair specifically on some level - point 2) had said, "Had he cut those damn split ends off and worn an albeit smaller - yet much tighter 'fro, it would have looked better." Which for all intent and purpose, it actually would have! Y'all would still have said, "They sound like a bitter, dried up, old curmudgeon." Purely for no other reason being - they had the audacity and unmitigated gall to say it.